THE OLD RUGGED CROSS (TH/PEACE #3)

        This year Easter will be different than any Easter we have ever celebrated due to the virus that has hit folks all around the world.  Nobody will be attending Easter or Good Friday services in a church.  Some will view them online.  
          Families will not be gathering together for a meal because of the travel restrictions.  Some may communicate by phone or by programs like Skype or Zoom.  There won't be Easter Egg hunts for the children.  There won't be baseball to watch on television. Many will be ill - isolated at home or in hospitals. Everything will be different and maybe life will never return to what we have grown to know as normal.

          But let's be sure that with all of these changes that we don't forget the true meaning of Easter.  Hopefully we will take time to celebrate the Resurrection.  Hopefully we will take time to thank God for all that He has provided for us - especially for salvation.  God has been so good!  Be still and know that He is God!  Rejoice and praise Him.  He is in control!

         One of the things I have always enjoyed about Easter are the great hymns about the cross and the Lord's death and resurrection.  Hopefully we will find a way to hear them and sing them this year.  On April 4, 2010, I shared the story of "The Old Rugged Cross" on this blog.  As part of my series on "Timeless Hymns" and my short series of "Hymns of Peace", I have chosen to share this story once again.

          The Reverend George Bennard (1873-1958) is the author of this classic hymn which has been one of the favorites of believers for many years.  On one occasion, as Bennard was thinking of Christ's crucifixion, an original melody ran through his mind. Although it was a complete melody, very few words came with it. He struggled to write some appropriate lyrics, but all that came at first was the phrase, "I'll cherish the old rugged cross." But slowly the song seemed to take shape in bits and pieces.

         He returned from several preaching engagements to his home in Michigan with a renewed meaning of the cross etched in his mind and heart. He took the song manuscript and placed it on the kitchen table. In a very short span of time, he was able to rewrite the stanzas with each word falling perfectly into place. He asked his wife to join him in the kitchen. She did so and he joyfully sang his prized new song. She was pleased, expressing that the song was great. 

         Charles H. Gabriel, a well-known gospel-song composer, helped Bennard with the harmonies. He made the final changes while staying in the parsonage of the Rev. and Mrs. Leroy O. Bostwick, who had asked for his help with a two-week revival at the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Pokagon, Michigan. There he sang the final completed version for the first time on June 7, 1913.  He had a choir of five, accompanied by a guitar, sing it from his penciled notes. 

         Published in 1915, the song was popularized during Billy Sunday evangelistic campaigns by two members of his campaign staff, Homer Rodeheaver (who bought rights to the song for $500) and Virginia Asher, who most likely were the first to record it in 1921. 
          During this Easter season meditate upon these beautiful, meaningful words as we remember and celebrate the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  What an amazing victory, hope, and peace were provided for those who accept what He did for us.  Despite the difficult conditions around us this year, rejoice in God's greatest gift to us.
          Have a blessed Easter and stay safe.

(1) On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,

The emblem of suffering and shame;

And I love that old cross where the dearest and best

For a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,

Till my trophies at last I lay down;

I will cling to the old rugged cross,

And exchange it some day for a crown.

(2) O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,

Has a wondrous attraction for me;

For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above

To bear it to dark Calvary.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,

Till my trophies at last I lay down;

I will cling to the old rugged cross,

And exchange it some day for a crown.

(3) In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,

A wondrous beauty I see,

For 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,

To pardon and sanctify me.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,

Till my trophies at last I lay down;

I will cling to the old rugged cross,

And exchange it some day for a crown.

(4) To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;

Its shame and reproach gladly bear;

Then He'll call me some day to my home far away,

Where His glory forever I'll share.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,

Till my trophies at last I lay down;

I will cling to the old rugged cross,

And exchange it some day for a crown.

Listen to it here.   RUGGED